Social media is not a fad, and is not only here to stay, but
will shape and change the way the world operates in almost every fashion. It definitely is the biggest shift since the
Industrial Revolution and is changing the playing field in many different
aspects. The way we communicate with
friends and family through tools such as facebook, (in my personal experience)
I have found that an invitation to a social event is usually done through this
site. Friends and family not on facebook
tend to miss out on such events as they are overlooked when the gathering list
is compiled. We are forging new bonds
with like minded individuals all over the world through other tools like
blogging, twitter, or online groups and forums, and are seeing a new form of
communication that truly is making the world a smaller place like it has never
been before.
Social media is providing cheap and accessible tools that
blur the boundaries between the haves and have nots that has allowed more and
more people to connect in ways never known before. It is giving a power to the people that were
probably best illustrated recently in the Arab Spring protests that began in
2011. The social media tool of Twitter
provided the backdrop for the gathering as well as the news reel for the
uprising. The new age of this type of
media has brought about a dilemma for governments around the world in their
ability to control media and information.[1] The use of social media in these uprisings
demonstrates how this new age of communication is shifting power from the few
to the masses. In many instances, the
use of social media to report events happening in the moment is surpassing the
ability of traditional news and media outlets to cover certain events as they
unfold. These same outlets will rely on
the various forms of social media to begin the story well before they can
mobilize crews to the events and as a result the traditional media outlets have
shifted from breaking news to a more in depth coverage.
Social media is giving more people control over how, when,
and who they communicate with and it is connecting people with like minded
ideologies, interests, and passions on a grand scale. As with any tool or invention, there are
positives (an example would be forming a group online for dog lovers) and
negatives (for example, the proliferation of child pornography rings) to the
rise of social media. Although there is
a certainly people and groups who utilize this new form of communication in
negative ways, I am an optimist and believe that the tools of social media have
and will continue to make the world a better place for all.
